Tarek and Heather Rae El Moussa are starring in HGTV’s ‘The Flip Off.’ Here’s a timeline of their relationship.

Tarek El Moussa married Christina Haack in 2009. They starred in HGTV’s “Flip or Flop” and have two children, Taylor, 14, and Brayden, 9.

The couple separated in 2016, seven months after police were called to their house because of “a call of a possibly suicidal male with a gun,” TMZ reported at the time. Tarek was seen running from his home with a firearm, which he dropped after police told him from a helicopter to release it, TMZ reported.

“Like many couples, we have had challenges in our marriage,” Tarek and Haack said in a statement to People on the matter. “We had an unfortunate misunderstanding about six months ago, and the police were called to our house in an abundance of caution. There was no violence, and no charges were filed.”

Tarek addressed the incident in his 2024 book “Flip Your Life,” saying he decided to go on a walk after a fight with Haack and was carrying the gun to protect himself from wildlife.

In a February 2024 conversation with Business Insider, he also described his divorce from Haack as “the most difficult period” of his life, particularly because of the media attention their separation received.

“I don’t know what it was about me and Christina, but we got so much press for years, and it just wouldn’t slow down,” he said. “It wouldn’t go away.”

Tarek and Haack’s divorce was finalized in January 2018, and he went on to star in “Flipping 101” solo. “Flip or Flop” ended in 2022.

As the couple shared on the “Not Skinny Not Fat” podcast, Tarek and Heather first connected when he slid into Heather’s Instagram DMs a few months before she started filming Netflix’s “Selling Sunset.” He asked her out, but she said no because she had a boyfriend at the time.

On July 4, 2019, Tarek and Heather, who was then single, were cruising on separate boats off the coast of Newport Beach, California, for the holiday, according to People.

When their boats were docked near each other, Heather came onto Tarek’s boat to speak to a mutual friend. Sparks flew, and Tarek asked Heather on a date again. This time, she said yes.

TMZ captured photos of Heather and Tarek kissing in Redondo Beach, California. 

The pair announced their relationship with matching Instagram photos. 

“It’s official,” Tarek captioned his post. “After more than 3 years on my own I’m so PROUD to say that this beautiful, sweet and talented young lady is my girlfriend.”

“I’ll be honest and say I never thought I would meet someone special in my life after the last three years,” he went on to write. “Then…out of the blue @heatherraeyoung walked into my life.”

Heather said she was “so proud to call” Tarek her boyfriend in her post.

“This incredible man @therealtarekelmoussa came into my life at the perfect time and I haven’t stopped smiling since,” she wrote. “I am so proud to call him my boyfriend, I just look at him in awe at what an amazing, talented and kind human he is.”

On the same day that they announced their relationship, Tarek and Heather did an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

In the interview, Tarek shared that he introduced Heather to his family, including his two children, the night before.

“I introduced her to my kids last night for the first time,” he said in the interview. “My mom, my dad, my mom’s husband, my sister. So, we’re doing it! Very excited.”

Tarek also said in the interview that Heather was everything he didn’t know he had been missing.

“I just went through some pretty traumatic things in my life and honestly I was very happy being comfortable on my own and I didn’t realize what I was missing until I found what I was missing,” he told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “I was sad for a very long time; I was alone for a very long time, and I feel like she’s really brought me back to life, which is very, very fun to say.”

The crew members Tarek works with on HGTV surprised him with a birthday cake and rendition of “Happy Birthday” to celebrate his 38th birthday, as he documented in an Instagram post.

Heather was with him during the surprise, and Tarek introduced her to the crew as his “birthday present” after saying it was the “best birthday ever.”

The “Flipping 101” star revealed that Heather and Haack had already met during an appearance on “GMA3.”

As he told hosts Michael Strahan, Keke Palmer, and Sara Haines, Haack and Heather met when he and Heather went to pick up his kids. He only gave both women five minutes’ notice that they would be meeting.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m coming over to see the kids. By the way, my girlfriend is coming. See you in five!'” Tarek said of what he told Haack.

“I looked at Heather, and I was like, ‘Are you ready?’ And she was like, ‘Ready for what?’ I was like, ‘Well, we’re going to go see the kids, and my ex-wife is there,'” he said.

Tarek added that he and Haack had not formally discussed his new relationship before the two women met, but they “got along great.”

“They both eat that healthy, hippie food,” he joked. “They do that weird hiking stuff.”

Heather and Tarek went to Amsterdam and Paris for their first Thanksgiving together, as they documented on Instagram.

A month later, they spent Christmas Day with Tarek’s children. 

“My heart is so full of love,” Heather wrote in an Instagram post about the day. “@therealtarekelmoussa and the kids have changed my life more than I can even describe. This is our first Christmas together and it’s one I’ll never forget.”

“I just adore Tarek’s family so much,” she added.

Tarek announced on Instagram that he and Heather had been living together “for a while” at the end of January 2020. He said they split their time between a home in West Hollywood and another in Orange County.

“The best part is I now have someone to go to bed with and wake up to every day,” he wrote. “The better part is that person is @heatherraeyoung.”

Tarek later revealed in another Instagram post that he and Heather moved in together “less than a week after our first date.”

Both Tarek and Heather took to Instagram to celebrate one year together.

“From the first day I met you, to our first date and our second date when we decided to commit 100% before we barely even knew each other. But we knew what we had was special. We had that butterflies in your tummy, can’t eat, can’t stop smiling soul mate love,” Heather captioned her post. “You are my very best friend in the whole world. The man I look up to, admire, adore, best daddy, best heart, kind & most important loyal and honest.”

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you,” she added. 

Tarek echoed Heather’s post, saying he would be “lost” without her.

“The second our eyes connected and we smiled at each other I knew my life would never be the same,” he wrote. “She is incredible in every way possible and most importantly she loves and adores Tay and Bray.”

“I just love you to the moon and back. You are my everything and you complete me. I’d be lost without you,” Tarek said of Heather.

The couple announced their engagement with matching Instagram posts.

Tarek popped the question on the beach, which Heather said was a complete surprise in a follow-up post.

Tarek told People he knew he wanted to make Heather his wife after seeing how she was with his children.

“We were sitting on the boat one day, and I looked over, and she had Taylor in one arm and Brayden in the other arm, and they’re all three cuddling,” he said. “That was the moment I knew I had to make her my wife and bring her into the family.” 

People also reported that Tarek proposed with an eight-carat diamond. The emerald-cut ring sits on a gold band.

The pair bought a home in Newport Beach, California, where they first met, as People reported.

“Tarek originally bought it as a flip but then they decided to make it their new home,” a representative for the couple told People at the time.

As US Weekly reported, Heather revealed on Instagram that she got a tattoo on her hip that read, “Yes sir, Mr. El Moussa” as a Valentine’s Day present for her fiancé. 

She later deleted the post after fans reacted with mixed reviews, according to People.

People reported that Tarek yelled at Christina Haack on the “Flip or Flop” set and compared her to Heather.

“Look at me, look at me, look at me. It’s called winning,” Tarek said to Haack, according to People. The publication also reported that he called his ex-wife a “washed-up loser” during the incident.

The couple added their puppy Bugz to their family as a surprise for Taylor and Brayden, as Tarek wrote on his Instagram.

“It’s one of those moments where you know your kids will look back on it and remember it forever,” he wrote.

The couple got married near Santa Barbara, California, with Heather wearing a Galia Lahav gown. They filmed the wedding for an HGTV special, “Tarek & Heather: The Big I Do.”

“I’m a WIFE!!! Yesterday feels like a dream… so perfect, filled with so much love and magic,” Heather captioned an Instagram post about the event. “Truly everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I love you so much @therealtarekelmoussa and now I get to say we’re officially MARRIED!!”

Heather also shared on Instagram that she and Tarek said vows to his children during the wedding.

“When your daddy and I decided to be fully committed, I was 100% committing myself to you too,” Heather said she told the kids in her vows. “I am beyond honored to be your ‘bonus’ mommy. Thank you for allowing me to love your daddy with all my heart. I love you both more than you will ever know.”

Heather told Today that she didn’t think she wanted to have children until she met Tarek.

Heather went on to tell Today that she found out she had a low egg count in her 20s, so she decided to freeze her eggs and create embryos through IVF after they got married to transfer in the summer of 2022. Heather documented the process on social media.

“I’m glad I decided to share my story on Instagram because struggling with infertility can feel very isolating,” she told Today. “I also want to encourage women to think about their fertility in their 20s.”

On April 12, Heather posted a black-and-white photo on Instagram of fresh tattoos on her and Tarek’s arms.

Both were inked with “10.23.2021,” their wedding date, on their forearms. Heather’s wrist had a smaller “TEM” tattoo, while Tarek’s had “HEM” in the same place to represent each other’s initials. 

In March 2022, “Flip or Flop” ended amid reports that filming had become “too intimate” for Tarek and Haack to film.

Then, Heather seemed to confirm that Tarek had compared her and Haack during the “Selling Sunset” reunion, which aired on May 6, 2022.

Just three days later, the Daily Mail published photos of Heather and Haack at Brayden’s soccer game, in which the pair appeared to be arguing. In separate photos, a coach seemed to be separating Tarek from Josh Hall.

Heather and Haack released a joint statement on May 11, saying they had resolved “a personal matter.” On May 13, they posed for a photo together and said they were focused on co-parenting after Brayden underwent an emergency appendectomy, which Haack said was a “wake-up call.”

HGTV announced the series “The Flipping El Moussas” in a press release provided to Business Insider.

The press release said the show would document Tarek and Heather combining their home flipping and renovation skills, as well as their IVF journey, a move, and a renovation. 

“We are so excited to bring viewers into our world to see the ins and outs of our day-to-day lives,” the El Moussas said in a statement included in the same press release.

“As busy parents and successful real estate experts, fans can watch us as we go from making breakfast for the kids in the morning, to making business deals by the afternoon,” the statement said. “The cameras are capturing our journey like never before and we can’t wait to share it all.”

“Bringing our expertise together from each of our worlds has been so much fun,” Tarek and Heather wrote in an Instagram post about the series. “We are working on all new flipping projects – from multimillion-dollar homes in Los Angeles to a tiny cabin in Big Bear, California, and everything in between that we cannot wait to share with you.”

“We’ll also be giving a little peek into our everyday lives with the kids, our loved ones and our journey to grow our family,” the post went on to say.

The El Moussas announced on Instagram that they were expecting a baby in early 2023.

They opened up about the pregnancy to People, saying it was a “huge shock” because they were scheduling an appointment to implant an embryo via IVF when Heather found out she was pregnant naturally. 

“We just weren’t expecting this,” Heather told People. “We had just gone through IVF. We had embryos on ice. We had a plan.”

“I think when you least expect it, and there’s no stress in your life, the world just brought us what was meant to be,” she added. “I’m so excited that it happened like this.”

Tarek and Heather shared that their third child would be a son with an Instagram reel in which they popped blue confetti poppers alongside Brayden and Taylor. 

Heather posted on her story that she was “shaking” and her heart was racing ahead of the reveal.

Heather and Tarek announced on Instagram that their son, Tristan El Moussa, was born on January 31, 2023.

Speaking to Business Insider just over a month after Tristan’s birth, Heather said her close bond with Taylor and Brayden made her want to have a child.

“They’re very special kids, and I’m so in love with them, and that’s what made me want to have a baby, as well as my love for Tarek,” Heather said. “This is the kind of relationship you dream of and hope for. I found the love of my life, and I wanted to create a beautiful baby with him.”

The series spotlighted the couple flipping homes, and it gave peeks at their home life together as well.

Ahead of the premiere, the couple told BI that working together only made them closer.

“We love being together,” Heather told BI. “Tarek and I really trust each other, and we value each other and respect each other.”

The show was confirmed for a second season in July 2023, and it premiered in December 2024.

HGTV announced it would reunite Haack and Tarek on-screen alongside their new spouses in a house-flipping competition series called “The Flip Off.“

In the show, the El Moussas were set to compete against Haack and Hall to see who could make the most money off of a flip. However, Haack and Hall split in July 2024 after filming had begun, so Haack ended up competing in the series solo.

Tarek and Heather expressed their support for Haack amid her divorce to paparazzi on July 23, 2024, as E! News reported.

“We support her,” Heather said.

“Whatever she needs, we’re here to help,” Tarek echoed.

The series premiere featured some dramatic moments, including an emotional conversation between Tarek and Haack about her divorce.

Although they’re competing against each other on the show, Haack and the El Moussas seem to be on good terms, with Haack and Heather hugging each other on the show.

The El Moussas and Haack even told BI before the premiere that they were open to flipping a house as a team.